Memphis area small colleges: 21-3 Rhodes women hosting SAA tournament

The Rhodes College women's basketball team found the perfect way to prepare for the postseason last week during its regular-season finale in Danville, Ky.

The Lynx pulled out a gritty road victory, 75-74 in overtime, against a solid Centre College team that won 16 games this season — and they did it after two of their best players fouled out.

Coach Matt Dean's team is battle-tested and ready to make another run at the NCAA Division 3 Tournament.

"One of the players who fouled out of the game was Lauren Avant, and everyone knows what she means to this team," said Dean, whose team will host the Southern Athletic Association women's tournament, starting at 3 p.m. Friday. "When she was forced to go to the bench, she was as loud as anybody over there, trying to help her teammates any way she could. That's the kind of player she is — and we've got a team full of those type players."

Avant is a product of Lausanne Collegiate School who began her career at the University of Tennessee and battled injuries after transferring to Rhodes. She was named SAA Defensive Player of the Year as a junior, and her senior year has been spectacular.

In 22 games (28.6 minutes per game), she's averaged 24.8 points and 7.5 rebounds. She's topped 30 points six times, including a career-best 41 against Rust College in November.

Dean is quick to point out that he has several players who can carry the load offensively and defensively, and Avant agrees.

"We like to finish every game feeling like we played our best basketball as a team," said Avant, who hopes to get into coaching when her playing career is over. "We want to win this tournament, advance to the NCAA and extend our season. But mainly, we want to walk off the floor knowing we played the best basketball we could play — together."

In addition to Avant's production, sophomore forward Symone Daniels has averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. She's topped 20 points four times, including 28 against Centre College on Feb. 2.

"We feel like we have really good balance," Dean said. "That's going to be important in a tournament like this because good teams aren't likely to let one player take over a game."

Rhodes, the top seed at 21-3 overall and 13-1 in the league, will open against No. 8 seed Sewanee (9-16, 2-12) at 6 p.m. Friday. The Lynx are in the opposite bracket from No. 2 seed Millsaps (16-8, 10-4), the only team to beat Rhodes in SAA play this season.

Here's a look at what's happening with other area small-college basketball programs as they prepare to enter postseason play:

Christian Brothers University

After wrapping up regular-season play against Valdosta State on Saturday, the CBU men will travel to Birmingham for the Gulf South Conference tournament, March 7-9. The Bucs entered Thursday's home game against West Florida with a record of 14-10 overall, 10-8 in the league.

The Bucs women entered Thursday's game at 14-11 overall and 9-9 in conference play. They will begin tournament play in Birmingham on March 6.

Southwest Tennessee Community College

The Southwest Tennessee Community College Saluqis (21-3) will enter next week's TCCAA/NJCAA Region 7 men's tournament having won three in a row and eight of their last nine. The tournament will be held Tuesday-Saturday at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tenn.

Tournament brackets have not been released.

Lemoyne-Owen

The LeMoyne-Owen men's team dropped its regular-season finale to Clark-Atlanta, 82-78, on Wednesday, falling to 11-15 overall and 9-9 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Magicians will travel to Birmingham for the SIAC men's tournament Monday-Saturday.

The LeMoyne-Owen women fell to 6-20 and 5-11 with a 68-64 loss to Clark-Atlanta on Wednesday. They'll visit Atlanta for the SIAC women's tournament Monday-Saturday.